1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to the shipment and delivery of items and more particularly relates to the use of autonomous communications in the shipment and delivery of items.
2. Description of Related Art
Generally, a service provider such as a shipping service, for example, UPS of Atlanta, Ga., has a multitude of scheduled stops in a business day for the pick-up of items to be shipped, and for the delivery of items. In many instances, the shipper at a scheduled pick-up location may not have any items to be shipped on that particular day. However, the shipping service may not be aware that there is no need to attempt a pick-up at the scheduled pick-up location. An avoidable delay may be incurred by the shipping service's personnel when making stops at these “empty” scheduled pick-up locations. Furthermore, when items are delivered to a location, customers may request shipping service personnel to relay certain information about the delivered items to the customer thereby increasing the shipping service's time per stop.
In some instances, a visual indicator may be used at a scheduled pick-up location to inform shipping service personnel whether there are items at that location to be picked-up for shipment. Such visual indicators may be in the form of a sign placed in the window or door of the scheduled pick-up location. However, this approach is not practical in many instances because the pick-up location may not have exterior windows or doors where the visual indicator may be placed. In other instances, the windows may be at an elevation where the visual indicator cannot be seen from the street by shipping service personnel.
The embodiments of the present invention overcome many of the challenges encountered in the prior art, some of which are described above, by providing efficient methods and systems to notify service provider personnel whether or not there is work to be performed at a customer's location and to quickly and efficiently transfer information from the service provider to the customer.